Café EPOS and coffee shop POS systems: a UK guide
Updated 19 October 2026
A coffee shop POS takes orders fast, handles milk and syrup options, takes card and contactless payments and tracks what sells. Most UK cafés pay £0 to £70 a month in software, plus about 1.4% to 1.75% in card fees. Square and SumUp publish prices. Others quote. The till is only half the job, though. The other half is the morning queue. That's where order-ahead and QR ordering from Menuthere help, with 0% commission.
What a café POS system must do
Cafés are not small restaurants. The work is fast, small and repetitive. A good café POS system should:
- Ring up an order in seconds. Big buttons, favourites on the first screen, few taps.
- Handle modifiers. Oat milk, extra shot, decaf, syrup, size. Each with its own price.
- Ask "eat in or take away?" VAT can change with the answer (see below).
- Take contactless and phone payments. Most café sales are small card taps.
- Take tips on the card reader, if you want them.
- Run loyalty. The old paper stamp card still works, but a digital one gives you data.
- Keep tabs for regulars or tables, if you do table service.
- Report best sellers and busy hours, so you can plan the rota and the bake.
Café VAT: why "eat in or take away" matters
UK VAT on café food is tricky. Your till must get it right (HMRC VAT Notices 709/1 and 701/14):
| Item | Eat in | Take away |
|---|---|---|
| Hot drinks (coffee, tea) | 20% | 20% |
| Cold sandwich | 20% | 0% |
| Cake or pastry, served cold | 20% | 0% |
| Toastie or hot pasty (hot food) | 20% | 20% |
| Soft drinks and bottled water | 20% | 20% |
A good café EPOS sets VAT per item and switches it when you tap "take away". Read more in our guide to VAT on takeaway food.
UK coffee shop POS options compared (October 2026)
From each provider's public UK pages on 11 October 2026. Prices exclude VAT unless stated.
| System | Software per month | Card fees | Café extras | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square POS | Free plan £0; Plus from £29 (Square for Restaurants Plus £69 per location) | 1.75% in person; 1.4% + 25p online (UK cards) | Square Loyalty from £25 a month per location; Square Online from £0 | None on the Free plan |
| SumUp POS (Point of Sale Pro) | £49 + Hospitality module £19 (tabs, table timer, kitchen dockets). SumUp's main pricing page also lists a separate POS Plus at £39 | Card reader rates: 1.69% pay-as-you-go, or 0.99% on Payments Plus (£19 a month). The POS pricing page asks POS customers to request a quote | Advanced Loyalty £19; table ordering 1.7% + 12p per order | "No long-term contracts" |
| Epos Now | From £54 (payments, care and support) | Quoted | App store add-ons | 12-month subscription for discounted bundles |
| Tabology | EPOS Essentials £39 (includes mobile ordering, loyalty, gift cards) | Integrated; rate not listed | Pro £59 adds bookings, digital stamp cards | Not stated on the pricing page (nor whether prices include VAT) |
| Toast (UK) | Starter from £80; Essentials £150 (includes KDS and Handheld POS) | Flat rate, not published | Extra devices cost more | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Menuthere (ordering layer; till is a POS add-on at US$10 a month) | Free US$0; Lite US$17; Pro US$39 (billed in US dollars; your bank converts it) | Your own card machine in store; Stripe online 1.5% + 20p (standard UK cards) | QR table ordering, order-ahead, coupons, loyalty points (Pro) | Month to month |
What a small café really pays: a worked example
A café makes 150 sales a day at £5.50, 26 days a month. That's £21,450 a month, almost all on cards.
| Monthly cost | Square Free | SumUp POS Pro + Hospitality |
|---|---|---|
| Software | £0 | £49 + £19 = £68 |
| Card fees | 1.75% = £375.38 | 1.69% (SumUp's pay-as-you-go reader rate) = £362.51 |
| Total | ≈ £375 | ≈ £431 |
The card rate matters more than the software. At this size, every 0.1% is about £21 a month. Ask for a better rate once you have three months of sales.
The morning queue: the problem a till can't fix
At 8:15 the queue is out of the door. A faster till helps a little. But the real limit is the barista and the milk jug. Three tools help more:
- Order ahead (click and collect). Commuters order on their phone at the bus stop and collect at the counter. You spread the rush, and they don't walk past when the queue is long.
- QR ordering at the table. Sit-down guests order and pay from the table. The counter is free for takeaway trade. See table ordering and order and pay at the table.
- Pre-orders for bigger jobs. Office coffee runs, celebration cakes and platters, ordered for a set time.
All three work best on your own ordering page, not a delivery app that takes 13% to 30% plus VAT.
Where Menuthere fits in a café
Menuthere is not a full café EPOS. It is a commission-free ordering platform, with an in-store till available as a POS add-on for US$10 a month. Many cafés use it alongside their card reader or existing POS.
What Menuthere gives a café:
- QR menu and table ordering with no app for guests. On the Free plan.
- Order-ahead and collection from your own ordering page, with 0% commission. See online ordering.
- Scheduled orders and pre-orders for set times, such as an office coffee run (Lite and above).
- Sizes and add-ons for milks, shots and syrups, and sold-out marking when the croissants run out.
- Online card payments through your own Stripe account (Lite and above).
- Coupons (Lite and above) and loyalty points (Pro). See loyalty programme.
- Ringing alerts and kitchen tickets so orders don't get missed.
- In-store billing (POS add-on, US$10 a month; for example Lite US$17 + POS add-on US$10 = US$27 a month): a browser till for counter sales, with cash and card records, sales reports and bills that show UK VAT at 20% or 0% per item.
What it doesn't do:
- No linked card reader. Your SumUp, Square or Dojo reader works separately.
- No tips or service charge at checkout or on the card reader through Menuthere.
- No digital stamp card. Loyalty is points-based, on Pro.
- No UK EPOS integrations.
The simple set-up many small cafés choose: a card reader for the counter, plus Menuthere for QR ordering, order-ahead and pre-orders (pre-orders on Lite). You avoid a contract and keep every penny of your online orders.
Put a QR code on your tables this week.
Café EPOS checklist: 10 things to check before you buy
- Speed. Can a new barista ring up "large oat flat white, extra shot" in under 10 seconds?
- Modifiers priced per option.
- VAT switching for eat in and take away.
- Card rate and whether it's tied to the POS.
- Contract, renewal and exit cost.
- Loyalty included, or a paid add-on?
- Order-ahead included, or a per-order fee?
- Offline mode for when the Wi-Fi drops mid-rush.
- Reports you can send to your accountant for Making Tax Digital.
- Support hours at weekends.
Price your menu before you choose a till
A till shows what sells. It doesn't tell you if you make money on it. Check gross profit on every drink and bake with our free GP calculator before you set prices.
Keep your card reader and cut the morning queue.
FAQs
What is the best POS system for a small café?
It depends on how you serve. A counter-only café can start with a free POS app and a card reader. A café with table service may want tabs and a table plan, such as SumUp's Hospitality module. Add an ordering layer like Menuthere if you want QR ordering and order-ahead with no commission.
How much does a coffee shop POS cost in the UK?
Software runs from £0 to about £70 a month on published plans, plus hardware. Card fees are usually the biggest cost: a café taking £21,450 a month pays about £360 to £375 a month at 1.69% to 1.75%.
Is there a free café POS system?
Yes. Square has a free POS plan, and you pay card fees and buy hardware. Menuthere's Free plan gives you a QR menu, table ordering and an ordering website with 0% commission, but it is not a full EPOS.
Do I need an EPOS or just a card machine?
A brand-new café can start with a card machine and a simple price list. Move to an EPOS when you need modifiers, stock, VAT switching and sales reports. Most cafés reach that point quickly.
Can customers order ahead from my café?
Yes, with an online ordering page. With Menuthere, customers order from your own link or QR code and collect at the counter. Scheduled pre-orders are on Lite and above. There's no commission.
Does Menuthere work with my SumUp or Square card reader?
It works alongside it, not linked to it. Take the payment on your reader and record the bill as "card" in Menuthere. Online payments go through your own Stripe account.
How does VAT work for a café?
Hot drinks are 20% whether eaten in or taken away. Cold food like sandwiches and cakes is 0% to take away but 20% to eat in. Your till must handle both (HMRC VAT Notice 709/1).
Sources (12)
- Square for Restaurants UK pricing (card rates, hardware): squareup.com/gb/en/point-of-sale/restaurants/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- SumUp Point of Sale Pro pricing: sumup.com/en-gb/pos/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- SumUp restaurant page (1.69% pay-as-you-go): sumup.com/en-gb/business-types/restaurant (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- SumUp UK pricing (Payments Plus £19 at 0.99%; separate POS Plus £39 ex VAT): sumup.com/en-gb/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Toast UK pricing (Starter from £80, Essentials £150): pos.toasttab.com/uk/pricing (read in a browser, accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Epos Now UK pricing: eposnow.com/uk/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Tabology pricing: tabology.com/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Stripe UK pricing: stripe.com/gb/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- HMRC VAT Notice 709/1, Catering, takeaway food: gov.uk/guidance/catering-takeaway-food-and-vat-notice-7091 (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- HMRC VAT Notice 701/14, Food products (soft drinks and bottled waters standard-rated): gov.uk/guidance/food-products-and-vat-notice-70114 (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Square UK pricing (Free £0, Plus £29+, Loyalty from £25, Online from £0): squareup.com/gb/en/pricing (accessed 11 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere pricing and feature pages: menuthere.com/en/pricing, /en/features/pre-orders-and-table-booking, /en/solutions/restaurant-billing-software (accessed 11 Oct 2026)